A pagan ritual unchanged from ancient times - that was how the villagers thought of the "Dance of the Five Sons" performed annually at Mardian. But when the versatile Mrs. Bünz arrived, set upon investigating this rare survival of English folk-dancing, her curiosity was not welcomed.
No one, from Dame Alice Mardian to the eccentric blacksmith, William Andersen and his five sons, considered their strange animal ritual to be the business of the rest of the world, certainly not of Mrs. Bünz. But they could not foresee the grisly tragedy that was to take place on "Sword Wednesday" in the biting cold of a late December evening amidst the disguises, the wild dancing and the torches that shed a ghostly glow on the ruins of Mardian castle where the ancient ceremony was held.
When Superintendent Roderick Alleyn is called in, he finds himself confronted with one of the most baffling cases of his career and a flat impossibility - how could the murderer have committed this brutal crime in front of an entire village and yet not be seen? At a grim reconstruction if the night of "Sword Wednesday" the impossibility is explained and in an astonishing climax the murderer is revealed.
Here is a thrilling, entertaining mystery, full of intriguing folk-lore, that will grip every reader.